The San Francisco Shipyard was once home to a secret nuclear radiation test site Lennar Corp. and Five Point

The San Francisco Shipyard was once home to a nuclear-testing site where scientists ran tests on ships exposed to nuclear radiation. Now, many San Franciscans call it home.

Developer Five Point, a spinoff of mega-developer Lennar, has set out to transform the abandoned San Francisco Naval Shipyard into a vibrant live-work community with 12,000 new homes and approximately five million square feet of office and commercial space.

The US Navy has learned through a third-party data review that Tetra Tech, a government contractor tasked with the cleanup and testing of nuclear contamination at the shipyard, faked more soil tests than previously thought, to speed along the city's largest redevelopment project. Ex-Tetra Tech workers claimed to swap samples from areas known to be highly contaminated with dirt from clean areas, and manipulate computer data that analyzed radiation levels.

According to investigations by Curbed SF and NBC Bay Area, almost half of the toxic waste-site cleanup was "suspect" or has "evidence of potential data manipulation or falsification."

Approximately 300 townhouses and condominiums have sold at the shipyard, and Five Point plans to build 11,000 more units on the city's waterfront. The Navy has said that residents who already live there are "100% safe," because the existing housing is located on land that was used for military housing and non-industrial activities, a representative with Five Point confirmed.

Take a look inside the rebranded San Francisco Shipyard.

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The bus ride to the San Francisco Shipyard reminds me of the approach to Walt Disney World when I was a kid. For half a mile back, roads signs welcome you to a real-estate wonderland.

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After a roughly 45-minute bus ride from downtown, I arrived at the San Francisco Shipyard.

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It was less glamorous than I expected. Wire fences separated swaths of dirt from other plots of dirt. A few residents walked their furry companions along the paved roads.

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The city bus drops residents off along the back of the development, where rows of condominiums meet what remains of the retired San Francisco Naval Shipyard.

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Hunters Point was a private commercial shipyard from 1869 until the start of World War II, when the Navy bought the property. The military repaired ships and submarines there.

From 1948 to 1969, it hosted a then-secret laboratory that ran tests on ships exposed to nuclear weapons, as well as research on the effects of radiation on living organisms.

Military equipment and ships contaminated by atomic bomb explosions were left at Hunters Point, and toxic substances including petroleum fuels, pesticides, and heavy metals seeped into and polluted the soil at Hunters Point, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2015.

After the shipyard closed, it was declared a "superfund" site — a toxic-waste site where the US Environmental Protection Agency can force parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government to do the work.

The cleanup of contamination at the shipyard has been ongoing for more than 20 years — and it's prompted investigations that are steeped in scandal. A 2000 investigation by SF Weekly found "troubling evidence" that the Navy mishandled the radioactive waste it produced. It reportedly dumped huge amounts of contaminated sand into the San Francisco Bay and sprinkled radioactive material on- and-off-base "as if it were fertilizer" to practice cleanup.

Approximately 70 acres of the 500 total acres at Hunters Point have been cleaned up by the Navy, passed inspections by the EPA, and sold from the city of San Francisco to Five Point.

Beginning in 2012, several employees of Tetra Tech, a government-contractor that was paid to clean up the site, admitted to faking soil tests— swapping samples from areas known to be highly contaminated with dirt from clean areas. Now all the soil samples are being reviewed, causing delays in the transfer of land from the Navy to the City of San Francisco to the developers.

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Still, Five Point and Lennar (which is responsible for building and selling the first 1,000 homes at the shipyard) aren't waiting for the cleanup to finish before building in the area.

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Construction is well underway on the parcels that passed inspection. Five Point's CEO said in a recent earnings call that the developer is shifting focus to part of the project at nearby Candlestick Park, where the San Francisco Giants once played, because it doesn't have cleanup issues.

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Kofi Bonner, Five Point's regional president in the Bay Area, describes the shipyard development as "a new community within an old city."

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It's an understatement to call the shipyard a housing development. The project will eventually cover nearly 800 acres and span about two miles from the farthest points.

An artistic rendering shows the possible future of the San Francisco Shipyard.
Lennar Corp. and Five Point

(The roughly 800 acres of neighborhood will include the shipyard and Candlestick Park.)

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The condominium buildings are typical of new urban developments: washed in neutral colors with a familiar industrial flare. Wrought-iron railings wrap around the balconies.

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A fully furnished model unit that I toured featured massive windows, appliances from Bosch, hardwood floors, carpeting in the bedrooms, and contemporary finishes.

Lennar Corp.

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The rooms were small but affordable by Bay Area standards.

Lennar Corp.

In 2017, Lennar's range of inventory at the shipyard averaged $860 per square foot — nearly $200 less than the average price per-square-foot in San Francisco, according to Trulia.

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One- and two-bedroom units range between roughly $600,000s and $1.2 million — typical of starter homes in San Francisco — while three-bedroom units go up to $1.5 million.

Lennar Corp.

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About 10% of all units will be priced below $257,000 and reserved for low- and middle-income buyers. Those units "won't skimp" on any high-end finishes, according to Lennar.